Word: settlements
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...government and West Bank settlers has been rising since November, when Netanyahu's cabinet called for a 10-month pause in construction, in response to pressure from the U.S. and Europe to stop expanding its grip on territories captured in the war of 1967. Obama had hoped a settlement freeze would enable a resumption of peace talks, because the West Bank and East Jerusalem (together with Gaza) are seen by the Palestinians as the basis of a future state. But the settlers' concept of Israel's boundaries derives from the Bible, and they fear that the government's temporary freeze...
...Despite their fears, Netanyahu's settlement freeze may actually help save the homes of the very people demonstrating against him. Already, the Israeli Prime Minister has used his gesture to blame the deadlock in the peace process on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who despite U.S. prodding has refused to restart peace talks as long as settlement construction continues in East Jerusalem. (Netanyahu has exempted Jerusalem from his freeze, claiming all of the Holy City as Israel's and refusing to negotiate over its status...
...settlement freeze could also help get the U.S. and other Western powers off Netanyahu's back. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised Netanyahu's partial freeze as "unprecedented" even though she had earlier made an unequivocal demand for an absolute freeze with no exceptions. Now, with settlers staging demonstrations, their leaders muttering about civil disobedience and radical rabbis urging young soldiers to disobey orders that might conflict with their religious obligations to inhabit biblical lands, the Israeli leader can tell the West that he would face a civil war if he moved to dismantle settlements...
...from the public. The scandal has claimed the scalps of former Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung and the German army's chief of staff, Wolfgang Schneiderhan. Paying compensation to victims' families is one way to draw a line under the affair as quickly as possible. An out-of-court settlement would avoid a long legal battle with relatives of the victims, and the amount of the payout will depend on the number of civilian casualties. A Defense Ministry spokesman says the government hopes for "a fast, unbureaucratic solution...
...Obama Administration is insisting that the two sides resume negotiations on Jerusalem and other final-status issues, but the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refuses to even discuss Jerusalem, while the Palestinian side refuses to talk until Israel halts all settlement construction, including any construction in East Jerusalem. Amid the stalemate, private Israeli groups like Elad are continuing their efforts to expand Jewish settlements in Arab neighborhoods, some with the goal of preventing any Israeli government from giving up East Jerusalem in a final peace deal.(See TIME's photo-essay "The Lemon Tree...